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Monday, October 13, 2003
RIMC doctor to face 3 negligence cases
By Fred P. Macaraeg
DAGUPAN CITY -- Two to three cases are to be filed against a medical surgeon of the Region I Medical Center (RIMC) for alleged negligence that led to the death of a teacher last Oct. 4.
Retired judge Anecito Madronio Sr., legal counsel of the bereaved family, said that aside from a criminal case for reckless imprudence resulting to homicide, the relatives of the victim would also be filing within this week civil and administrative cases against Dr. George Caguioa.
Caguioa allegedly did not make good his promise to Daniel Sabalboro, husband of the victim, to settle the matter.
The doctor allegedly admitted what happened was his fault and appealed to Sabalboro not to have the incident recorded with the police or made known to the media.
If possible, Madronio said, he does not want the doctor to be dismissed from his profession.
The retired judge said he just wants the doctor to ask forgiveness from his client in the presence of his (Caguioa's) lawyer.
Madronio said he is optimistic that the case against the doctor is strong because the medico legal officer of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), who conducted an autopsy of the victim's body last October 9, said there is evidence of medical malpractice.
The final report on the autopsy, however, will be released within 15 days.
Sabalboro's wife Veronica, who was admitted at the RIMC on Sept 29 last year, had been operated on to remove a tumor inside her nose on Sept. 30, 2002.
"After that, I had my wife undergo regular checkups with Dr. Caguioa, (who) told me that he had not taken out the tumor inside the nose. He referred us to Dr. Madrid of Pasig City at the Rizal Medical Center," said the husband in a radio interview.
Caguioa examined her after the cobalt treatment and told Sabalboro that her illness had affected her lungs as shown by the x-ray examination.
Last September 24, when she was putting on her false teeth while lying in bed, a rotten, odorous gauze slipped down to her mouth.
"Since she was operated on July 30, her nose continuously bled and the odorous smell persisted was but as to where it was coming from, we did not know until it slipped down to her mouth," Sabalboro said.
Due to this, he, along with some members of her wife's family, went to Dr. Jesus Canto, chief of RIMC, for help and he immediately called Caguioa and Dr. Ernesto Mataban.
The gauze with ointment was meant to hamper bleeding of the operated nose.
On Oct. 3, a day before Veronica died, Caguioa purportedly approached Sabalboro again, saying he already received the demand letter from Madronio.
The doctor said the more than P1 million in compensation demanded by the victim's family was too much.
Caguioa allegedly scheduled a meeting over the settlement last October 7, but during that time the doctor informed the victim'sh husband that he had already hired a lawyer.
The doctor also allegedly threatened Sabalboro with reprisal.
Sabalboro said they had initially remained silent about the incident because they wanted to protect the doctor who pursued his medical studies in the United States. Sun.Star Pangasinan |
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